When Koeman first fell in love with Jordi Alba

Ronald Koeman's time as coach at Barca is his second stint in La Liga as a manager. A little more than a decade ago, he directed Valencia, where he crossed paths for the first time with Jordi Alba, now a fixture in his plans for the azulgrana club.

As 'AS' says, Koeman fell in love with Jordi Alba in the capital of the Turia. At that time, Alba was part of the youth team, but his qualities impressed the coach so much that he did not take long to recruit him.

"I want that little one who wears the '11' on my team. I like him a lot," said the Dutchman to the management of the 'Che' team, as revealed by the aforementioned media.

Very soon the opportunity came for him in the first team. From then on, history was written. Koeman did not finish well in Valencia, but Jordi Alba enjoyed his great progress, his reconversion to the side and his successful time at Barcelona.

It was in Barcelona that they met again. Despite speculation about the defender's departure, Ronald was clear from day one: the Catalan is his starting left-back.